Principal Kubernetes Platform Engineer

Ladders; United States; Remote; USD 170,000 - 281,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) match

Paid leave

Job summary

Ladders is seeking a Principal Kubernetes Platform Engineer to own the core platform, enabling secure, scalable workloads across our cloud. This remote US-based role emphasizes hands-on EKS, GitOps, and CI/CD to improve reliability, observability, and security.

You will onboard workloads, define standards, and ensure changes meet compliance expectations. Ideal candidates have 5–7 years in Kubernetes and AWS, strong EKS knowledge, Helm, GitOps, CI/CD, and security practices (PCI DSS, Pod

Qualifications

• 5–7 years of experience in Kubernetes and AWS environments.
• Deep knowledge of EKS operations, including node groups and cluster upgrades.
• Proficient in Helm chart authoring and GitOps practices.
• Strong understanding of security standards and compliance (PCI DSS, Pod Security).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and observability tools like Prometheus and Grafana.
• Familiarity with polyglot microservices and container security best practices.
• Preferred experience with AWS CDK and Kafka operations.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the AWS EKS cluster and its components.
• Design and implement security roles and policies for workloads.
• Enforce platform security standards and compliance in CI pipelines.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to onboard and troubleshoot workloads.
• Drive GitOps practices and CI/CD pipeline integration.
• Define platform standards and documentation for engineering teams.
• Lead security reviews and validate infrastructure changes against compliance.

Skills

Kubernetes

AWS

EKS

Helm

GitOps

CI/CD

Security & Compliance

Observability

Kafka

AWS CDK

Tools

Prometheus

Grafana

AWS CDK

Kafka

Job description

For our client, we are seeking a Principal Kubernetes Platform Engineer to join the team of a leader in the Finance & Insurance space.
This role will own the core Kubernetes platform that supports secure, scalable workloads across the organization’s cloud environment. The ideal candidate will bring deep hands-on experience with EKS, GitOps, and CI/CD integration, with a strong focus on platform reliability, observability, and security. You will partner closely with engineering teams to onboard workloads, define standards, and ensure infrastructure changes align with compliance expectations.
Location: Remote - US based candidates only, no visa sponsorship available.
Compensation: $170,000 – $281,000 annually.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the AWS EKS cluster and its components
• Design and implement security roles and policies for workloads
• Enforce platform security standards and compliance in CI pipelines
• Collaborate with engineering teams to onboard and troubleshoot workloads
• Drive GitOps practices and CI/CD pipeline integration
• Define platform standards and documentation for engineering teams
• Lead security reviews and validate infrastructure changes against compliance

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in Kubernetes and AWS environments
• Deep knowledge of EKS operations, including node groups and cluster upgrades
• Proficient in Helm chart authoring and GitOps practices
• Strong understanding of security standards and compliance (PCI DSS, Pod Security)
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and observability tools like Prometheus and Grafana
• Familiarity with polyglot microservices and container security best practices
• Preferred experience with AWS CDK and Kafka operations

Benefits

• Comprehensive insurance coverage including medical, dental, and vision
• Generous paid leave policies including new parent leave and bereavement leave
• 401k plan with a competitive company match
• Tuition reimbursement and fitness reimbursement options
• Flexible spending and health savings accounts
• Paid Sick and Safe Time and vacation daysOn-site fitness facilities in select locations

Our client is an equal opportunity employer.